Hoof Adventures & Other Equine Experiences

Wow, here it is December 29, 2009. I haven't posted anything on Dee's scratches episode since October. There has been great progress though. She has pretty much recovered, although there is some significant scaring. I'm still scared every time we get any moisture that the whole mess will start up again. After the last post, I ended up getting a third round of the antibiotic "Tucoprim" from my local vet. I finished out that and then the last of the ointment from Dr. Allred. I continued to treat through November and she got steadily better. Now the hair that is going to grow back is back. There are areas that I doubt the hair will ever come back, and I'm okay with that as long as she is comfortable – good thing we don't enter any beauty contests :0) Now I pray for a healthy spring – so we can continue on our journey, and no recurrence in the summer.  I will edit this post within the next couple days to add a pic of her current look.

As the week continued on, I decided it was important to get Dee back to the vet – she was starting to move sluggishly again, and I could see where some areas on her leg that had looked as if they were healing before, were getting crusty. I was able to sneak away from work early and we made the trip back to Dr. Allred on Wednesday, October 14. He was impressed with her improvement thus far, but agreed that it looked like the scratches infection may be coming back and he provided a new round of antibiotics, and more ointment. I asked some questions about her condition and he felt that she looked pretty good and didn't need to gain much more. Based on that, I decided to back off on the beet pulp some, so she would start to level off on her weight gain. I stopped the morning feeding of that, and kept the afternoon one in to mix with her antibiotic. These pics were taken on Sunday, October 18 th – and though she had been on the antibiotic again for 3 ½ days, I still don't se

Mark did the first cast on August 17, 2009, making sure to setup the 6 degree angle that the vet had suggested to support her tendon injury. I didn't get pictures, I was so enthralled with the process I forgot all about it! She did great afterword, moving comfortably, even in circles – right and left. I figured the cast would wear off quickly, but it lasted almost four weeks. I removed the cast and trimmed on September 12, 2009. She was moving comfortably after I trimmed, even across the large gravel in my back yard (it's the gravel that works its way to the top of road base). Previously, she had been ultra sensitive on this gravel – when Mark removed the first set of rocker shoes (first part of August), she took one step and it was bad enough for us to decide she would need boots just to get back to the corral. As Mark had done when removing the shoes, I decided to let her wait until the next day before putting the casting back on; it would give some air time to the frog, wh

During the six weeks that Moli had the Rocker shoes, she was able to move around better. The rocker allowed easy break over, no matter what direction she went. The vet at Equine Sports Center had put Equithane CS in the sole area in order to protect from rocks and such things. He wanted her in a small pen, but I had a hard time with that. She is very energetic, and I couldn't picture her being locked up for too long. Even when in a small pen for only 12 hours or so, she comes out running and bucking and carrying on as if she just got out of prison. She'll start running around and spinning in all directions the second anyone walks into the pen with her. I decided to leave her in the acre sized turn out where she could hang with the other horses (with a fence between them) knowing that there is less excitement and fast movement when she is free to slowly move around all day. By the end of the fourth week, however, she was showing signs of lameness when turning to the right – and

Jump ahead a year from the last post about Moli's fight with laminitis.  Her feet were looking pretty good, definitely better than when shod, but there was a little bit of wall separation that just wouldn't go away and occasional unexplained lameness.  I had been doing research here and there and still had no answers.  Then, one week in Sept, 2009 I went out of town.  When I returned I was surprised at Moli's condition.  Had she slowly been losing weight, or suddenly dropped? I wasn't sure, but there was obviously a problem. I took her back to the local vet.  Again, he couldn't point to any specific reason for the weight loss.  Because of the off and on lameness, I had decided to try getting her off alfalfa (Mark's suggestion and some research showing that some horses can't handle the richness of alfalfa) and had been moving her over to grass hay.  I thought maybe I just wasn't giving her enough, so the vet suggested I provide more grass, and he also sug

I wish I go could back and figure out just when Moli's problems with her feet started. Maybe with what I know now, I could do something to stop the damage, or at least start the healing sooner. It has now been somewhere around two years since I started seeing signs, but only a year since I started to believe it was something that would seriously effect what Moli could continue to do.  My search for answers turned up laminitis as the most probable cause of the problem.  I don't know what started it, and probably never will, but the first signs were in her feet, although I didn't realize that they were saying something serious until almost a year after the first vet visit due to lameness.   The first trip to the vet was out of concern for a bout of lameness that I couldn't attribute to anything in particular.  It was in Sept of 2008.  The local vet took some blood, and the tests came back normal  He also took some x-rays,  which showed a slight rotation in her right fr

I don't know how long this will be the top column, but Baxter Black is one of my favorite writers and I love today's column enough to share the link! Baxter certainly has the knack for entertainment!

Well, another week goes by and I'm not sure if there has been progress in Dee's fight with Scratches or not. I compare the pictures from last week and see new hair growth – that's good, but I don't really see any improvement in the hind legs at the heel. I will see how I can get back to Silver City this week to talk to Dr. Allred about an idea for continued improvement; so far it seems he has been able to help the most. Maybe he would agree to speak with my local vet and work through him to make it a little easier; it will be difficult for me to get off work to get to his office this week. I have continued to use the Scratches Formula, spraying the area twice per day. The pictures I took today were taken right after I sprayed, that's why things look a little dark, because her legs are still wet. I emailed the vet behind this medicine to ask about the hairless areas because they seem to be getting too dry. I asked if I should be using something different in

Well, Dee is still improving.  I am so encouraged by several things... #1 - even the icky oozy ointment no longer has her entire leg looking muddy and bad, there are patches of clean areas emerging. #2 - being confined is driving her nuts, she WANTS to move!  #3 - I couldn't stand watching her drive herself crazy in confinement, so I let her out, the gelding is no longer biting her bad enough to leave marks, they are back to their daily discussion about leadership, without violence.  I take this as him seeing that she is no longer too weak to be part of his herd.  Here is a shot of the hind heels...the place that bothers me the most right now.. I have changed medicine again for treating the sores.  It seems like anything that works only works for about two weeks, then levels out, then stops working altogether.  I just finished the ointment that Dr. Allred made (2nd batch) last night, but since Thursday, I've been using another product on her hind legs (little bit of comparis

Moli is my ever curious, sweet and opinionated Arabian mare.  She is 15 years old this year and I have had her since she was 4.  Moli was my first horse as an adult.  I purchased her the way everyone says you shouldn't - love at first site.  After seeing an online ad, my husband and I traveled about 3hrs to see her...I was about 40 feet from her when I saw her and I grabbed Randy by the arm and whispered "Put her in the trailer!"  Oh my goodness, she was so beautiful!  Soft eyes and a regal posture...tail and neck curled up - she seemed to be saying look at how beautiful I am.   She didn't walk, she floated - my heart had no chance.  That's really not the best way to get a good deal on a horse, but I've never regretted it, even with all the challenges we faced together. A registered full Egyptian Arabian, Moli's official name is "Good Gali Miss Moli".  The breeder's original plan was to show her, but she injured her front foot early on and

Well - I finally caught up to current time, so no more going back in time, at least no more than since the last post. Dee is still comfortable after seeing the last vet.  She just finished her last dose of antibiotic last night and the last steroid stuff this morning.  That makes a solid week on medication to help her fight off the infection, plus the new scratches ointment.  I'm not sure what out of all those things have helped, or if it were all three that helped, but something did.  I did have to go back to the vet this past Thursday to pick up more of the scratches ointment.  I tried to get the ingredients so I could share it here, but I guess it is a secret recipe.  If anyone out there needs it, the clinic is the Arenas Valley Animal Clinic in Arenas Valley, NM and the vet is Dr. Allred.  Maybe he would share with your vet. That said, she is not well yet.  I did go out and play this morning, but we stayed at a walk and I was very careful to keep all the ropes off her legs.

Well, I've been so focused on the scratches episode I haven't mentioned much about my journey to build a partnership with Dee.  The day I started thinking about bringing Dee home I asked her then owner if I could come out and play with her on site for a week or so to see if what I thought was a good match really was.  She agreed that I could come out any time and play with Dee.  So started a three week period of me driving the 10 miles each day to see what I could learn about this filly that had caught my eye. It was during the summer of 08. My work schedule during the summers has me off at 3:30pm and I would come home to change, then head over to Dee's place. She was 1 year plus a couple months - she was born in April of 2007 and this was all going down in June 2008. I was excited about the prospect of starting a young horse. I had been the first to ride Moli (the Arab), but she was four when I got her and came with alot of baggage, plus I had never even HEARD of Natural

September 6, 2009 - Time seemed to be moving right along and my poor sweet little Dee was not getting any better.  She had lost a good bit of weight, and I was really at a loss as to where to turn next.  I had given up on the second round of Silver Sulfadianzine cream after using a little over half.  I found some information online that indicated someone had some success with a product called MTG Shapleys.  I just happened to have some of this product in my tack room and decided that I would try it.  At the same time that I decided to try the MTG I also started covering the sores - the flies were literally covering up her legs, and I was sure they could only make things worse.   I did this for about four days, then I noticed that with the MTG on the legs, the flies weren't quite so bad, so I stopped covering them (something in me told me covering was not the best idea).  I decided that in order to see if there was any improvement that could be credited to the MTG, I needed to take

August 13, 2009 - I revisit this date only to provide some specific information about the treatment prescribed by the visiting vet. The vet came from the Equine Sports Medicine center in Sunland Park NM. (A little under 2hrs from here). He occasionally made local calls and I was able to get on his list for this day. This particular clinic always provides extensive documentation, something new for me – here is a piece from his diagnosis: “(1)Pododermatitis (aka “scratches”) – exfoliative, hypersensitive, painful (caused by combination of bacteria and fungal organisms). (2)Infectious pododermatitis caused by Dermatophilus congolensis (aka “rain rot”)” The reference to rain rot surprised me – seriously? We get 2 inches per year if we are lucky…how does that cause rot? It dries before she ever even gets wet. Anyway, here’s what he provided for a treatment. “(1) Wash the affected areas twice daily with betadine shampoo. (2) Apply SSD ointment with dexamethasone to affected areas twi

July 26, 2009 - This is the day I returned from the David Ellis Clinic to find my filly was walking so strangely. Struggling to get enough momentum for the first step, she would swing her head, then pickup a front foot before swinging the back feet around. Then once she got going the movement was more sideways then straight on. Because it was Sunday, I was unable to contact a vet, so had to wait until Monday evening for the local vet to come out and draw blood. His first impression didn't reveal much, but we discussed what I had found online about Wobblers, EPM and West Niles (yes, she was up to date on her vacinations). He felt it was a good idea to run a standard blood panel to see if anything showed. There was no fever, and she seemed alert. A physical exam showed no signs of swelling, nor were there any visible wounds. Before he left he gave her a shot of Banamine, and left me with two more for the following two days. On Tuesday, he called to say the blood panel showed nothin

It seems a little backward to begin my blog with a post about the horse I've owned for the shortest amount of time.  Circumstances just happen to be right to begin with her as she is my most recent "challenge" (from here on out, let's just call it a learning experience). Dee is a 2 year old paint filly that I purchased as a yearling from a paint breeder right here in my community.  She is beautiful, curious, sweet natured and willing to try anything once.  I was able to see both Sire and Dam and was impressed by both.  They had to send in blood for DNA testing to prove this filly actually did come from these two, the Sire was an overo paint and the Dam black - the Paint Horse folks wanted proof that they threw this little bucksin filly with four perfect white stockings. I was having some trouble with lameness in the Arab (I'll post something on that later) and expected I needed to start looking for a new ride.  I wanted a gelding, but this filly caught my eye